Senator Tom Berryhill Endorses School Facilities Bond Act of 2016

Today, the Californians for Quality Schools campaign announced that Senator Tom Berryhill (R-Twain Harte) has endorsed the Kindergarten Through Community College Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2016. The measure, which will appear on the November 2016 ballot, is a $9 billion state school facilities bond to adequately fund K-12 and community college school construction and modernization projects throughout the state.

“We must reinvest in our schools to ensure the success of our students in the growing and changing global economy,” said Senator Berryhill. “The school facilities bond is a comprehensive approach to ensuring that our schools create optimal learning environments to support student development.”

The initiative language retains the successful current funding partnership between the state and local entities, where eligible school districts raise local dollars and then apply for matching state funds to help maximize taxpayer investment. The measure will also maintain school district authority to levy fees on developers to ensure they pay their fair share of school facility costs. This program – the School Facility Program – was signed into law in 1998. If the measure passes, the program will continue and communities will have the ability to upgrade aging facilities to meet current health and safety standards and educational needs, and to build new facilities. It will also allow communities to invest in community college facilities that support job-training programs. Research demonstrates that infrastructure investment – like school construction – will yield economic benefits as well, with studies showing that 13,000 jobs are created for every $1 billion of infrastructure investment.

The last statewide school facilities bond was passed by California voters in 2006. The state’s fund to provide matching dollars to school districts that have already raised local funds for school construction projects has been depleted, leaving a backlog of $2 billion in K-12 project applications and almost $500 million in approved community college projects, with billions more in identified need. With estimates placing K-14 school construction funding needs for the next decade at more than $20 billion, the $9 billion bond will be a significant step forward to address the state’s school construction needs.

The Coalition for Adequate School Housing, which has served as a strong advocate for K-12 facilities funding since 1978, partnered with the California Building Industry Association to qualify the initiative for the November 2016 ballot.

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Paid for by Yes on Proposition 51 – Californians for Quality Schools, sponsored and funded by Coalition for Adequate School Housing Issues Committee and California Building Industry Association Issues Committee.